OUR CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu asserted his government's commitment to ensure affordable and quality healthcare service to the people of the State.
Unfurling the national tricolour at Indira Gandhi Park here on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day on Sunday, the Chief Minister said that the government had been fighting an unprecedented war against COVID-19 and with everyone's constant support, the government was able to tackle the challenge.
"Our fight against the pandemic is probably one of the best examples of our resolves at trying times. The State has shown exemplary performance and as on today, almost 65 per cent of our population has received the first dose of vaccine while, nearly 20 per cent are fully vaccinated with almost 15,000 doses being administered regularly," Khandu said.
The Chief Minister disclosed that to fight the pandemic, Arunachal Pradesh ramped up testing capacity by establishing multiple testing labs. Oxygen-supported beds were increased from 164 to almost 1000 within a time frame of three months. "As many as 13 oxygen generation plants have been set up which will meet the need of oxygen for all districts, while five oxygen plants were ready before the onslaught of the second wave of the pandemic," he said, adding, a tele-medicine hub at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) and district Covid Control Room in every district had been set up.
Khandu added that the State recruited over 100 doctors and nearly 500 nurses and established adequate numbers of COVID Care Centres and facilities to provide treatment for all categories of patients. "The government has already sanctioned a state-of-the-art 200-bedded hospital in Ram Krishna Mission hospital here, which will provide quality healthcare services," Khandu said.
The Chief Minister further disclosed that the government had launched the 'Chief Minister's Bal Seva Scheme', for providing support to children who have become orphaned due to COVID-19 and also ensured grant support for the medical treatment of children with special needs. He said that in tune with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, the State Government had decided to give specific focus on agriculture-horticulture and allied activities.
"We will be shortly launching the Atma Nirbhar Krishi Yojana and Atma Nirbhar Bagwani Yojana encompassing various farming activities through which our hardworking farmers will get support to increase production and contribute towards doubling the farm income," Khandu said.
The Chief Minister added that controlling the drug menace in the State would be taken up in mission mode and accordingly the government had approved the Arunachal Pradesh Policy on Psychoactive Substance 2021, reducing the demand and handling treatment and rehabilitation.
Referring to the education sector, Khandu informed that government-selected schools would be developed as model schools, low enrollment schools would be merged into inter-village schools and Early Childhood Care Centres would be established in 300 schools of the State. "Focus will be given on teachers' training and digital initiatives as we believe in complete education that nurtures body, mind and spirit," the Chief Minister added. He said that the new education policy had given an opportunity to rejuvenate the education sector and the government would work towards localization of syllabus and focus on childhood care and education.
"To bolster our presence at the border and to facilitate livelihood in border areas, we have taken up multiple border road and border model village development initiatives as development of border areas is our prime focus," Khandu said.
The Chief Minister appealed to the people to create a vision for a developed Arunachal. "Let us create a vision for our future with the mantra of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, that will lead us towards making Arunachal an exemplary State whose philosophy is based on the principle of 'acceptance of modernity while adhering to the traditions," Khandu added.
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